Pammies.com: Eye of Ra Story ‑ Chapter Three

Angry Charlotte

"You have broken the law no one is allowed to enter this tomb without authorization."

His words began to falter, as he looked a Charlotte. She stood tall with a bright glow surrounding her. She had a face like thunder.

"Silence," Charlotte yelled.

Charlotte's voice reverberated among the hills making it sound like a command not to be ignored. Indeed, the man took a few paces backwards. Charlotte was clearly very angry.

"Infidel, how dare you approach me in such a manner? Know your place."

As she said this, a blue mist emitted from her mouth covering the man and freezing him like a statue. The group of men who had arrived with him dropped their weapons and began muttering to each other.

Charlotte turned towards John. To his horror, he saw that the pupils of her usually lovely green eyes were now bright red, and she was balling her fists in anger, as the anger subsided, her eyes returned to their normal colour. John walked towards her. Once again, he became a witness to another side to this new identity that had unwillingly been imposed on Charlotte.

"Help me please John," she whispered walking towards him, "I feel drained of energy, but I must not show my enemies weakness."

"Ok, let's go over there away from prying eyes. First, you must tell the guards to surround these men until you have decided what you want to do with them."

Charlotte gave orders for the priest's men to be guarded then they both walked the perimeter around the camp with John gently supporting her. They found a group of boulders and sat down with their backs to the camp.

"Oh, John that was such a dreadful thing to do, that poor man, all that anger. Where did it come from? It certainly was not me - I was not the one in control."

"Charlotte I did not think you were," he said. "That was a man's voice coming from you. I think you are in danger of being taken over, and somehow you are going to have to find an inner strength to fight this entity that is trying to control you."

"I know what you mean, I will try," said Charlotte nodding her head. "Although I do think that this entity wishes to harm me. Quite the opposite, in fact, I feel it is here to help me."

"You may well be right Charlotte, but at the same time we cannot afford to draw attention to ourselves. At least until we have figured out why you have been brought here." John said.

Charlotte put her finger to her lips to silence John. As they turned around a guard was approaching.

"Excuse me Mistress, the priest that you silenced has...

"Yes, I now interrupted Charlotte. I will come to talk to him in a minute," she said dismissively.

The guard turned and walked back towards the camp.

"These powers you have developed are certainly impressive."

John held out his hand and helped her up. They walked back towards the camp. The priest bowed repeatedly as Charlotte approached him.

"I am sorry we have had this misunderstanding your majesty. Please allow me to introduce myself my name is Sied, chief priest for the temple here in Yunu."

The man was clearly frightened and did not want to experience the wrath of Charlotte again. As she raised her hand to quieten him, he scuttled backwards and tripped over.

"Get up she said impatiently, I wish you to tell me more about this area and its rulers, come with us; we wish to talk with you."

"Certainly Isis," said the priest scuttling along beside her.

"To start with why do you call me Isis? We have never been introduced, and I'm sure that you do not now my real name."

"I can see with my own eyes your majesty. You left us before, but thanks to our beloved god Ra you have returned and now everything will be well again. You have been sent to save and protect us just as you did before."

Charlotte and John questioned the priest at length. Eventually, Charlotte heard enough and raised her arm. The priest stopped talking and dropped back a few paces to walk behind them before Charlotte finally dismissed him.

"Well, what do you make of that?" Charlotte said as she watched the priest return to his group of men.

"Your identity is the only certain thing about this venture," John replied. "It would appear that Sét the God of evil has risen, and is bringing plague and pestilence to the area. Most of the locals have left the area. Those that remain are slowly dying. Not an altogether endearing prospect," John said kicking angrily at the soil under his feet.

At any other time, both John and Charlotte, would have treated this information as hearsay, or mass hysteria, and dismissed it. However, having been through enough of their own strange experiences recently, they thought the information Sied had given them to be true. If this was the case, they surmised that they could be in danger if Sét found out that they were in the vicinity.

They gathered together Isis's guards and the priest's men. Charlotte explained briefly the dangers that lay ahead and asked for their allegiance against Sét's reign of terror. With one accord, they all agreed to help. Charlotte was shrewd enough to realize that for some of the men this was from fear of her, rather than devotion. She summoned Akunosh to organise an elite group of guards to stay close by her side. Charlotte and John got very little sleep that night as they discussed the day's events, and what would be their next move.

It was decided that in the morning they would head for Yunu. They knew that a large group would attract attention. So it was determined that they split before entering the town. One thing that was agreed on was that Charlotte should be flanked by her guards at all times. John was to be in command of one group and Charlotte the other. This was to ensure that if one group got into trouble, the other could go to their aid.

John was very nervous as he set off. Charlotte, on the other hand, seemed to be looking forward to any confrontation that may occur. Then again, she did have an invisible helper thought John.

As it was, Charlotte and her group were the first to reach the middle of town. They found it nearly deserted apart from the children who came running out from behind doors and buildings. They ran towards her touching her robes. Others darted among the guards, giggling, and laughing.

Charlotte could hear horses approaching and sensed danger. She ordered the guards to take the children and to hide them somewhere safe. She could see John's group entering the town. Charlotte had to act quickly and turned facing the sound of galloping horses. Their hooves appeared to be eating up the ground at a rapid pace, although there was nothing visible to see.

John and his men walked towards Charlotte, who stretched out a restraining arm to halt them. They watched as Charlotte lifted her head back - her eyes rolling in their sockets. A Rush of wind began to swirl around their feet and out of nowhere, a dust storm sprung up. Charlotte brought her head upright and pursed her lips together blowing a powerful wind from between them. First, she cleared a tunnel through the middle of the dust storm - this had been where the sounds of galloping hooves were coming from. Then, she turned her head from side to side, to clear completely the area.

The vision they witnessed before them was incredible. Horse's hooves could be seen racing across the ground. However, there was nothing else to be seen, no horse legs - body or any physical being astride them. A pair of skeletal hands could be seen holding non-existent reigns. The outline of the rider's head could be seen as a pair of glaring eyes suspended in deep sockets. Some of the men, which had been guarding Charlotte, were in horrified by the sight and ran away.

"Sét has come for us," the men shouted as they ran.

Charlotte went into a trance. She produced a horn from out of nowhere from which she blew a high-pitched note that she held without pausing. The sound was so alien that the people surrounding her covered their ears in protection. Abominations began to appear affected by the pitch being blown. The riders and their horses once invisible began to emerge in a physical form. However, it did not finish there - they did not stop forming. They grew excessively until they became bloated and distorted and were no longer recognisable human form. One by one, they exploded into thousands of pieces, which caused a stream of ooze that melted away into the ground. The battle was won.

An unearthly voice came from the black clouds above. It shouted angrily.

"I will return Isis; you may have won this battle. You will not the next."

The considerable effort made by Charlotte took its toll, and she crumpled to a heap on the floor. John ran over to her. She was unconscious and barely breathing. He lifted her up and carried her to the protection of some buildings with Charlotte's guards following closely. John was beside himself with grief he did not know what to do. He cradled her in his arms rocking her like a baby. He leaned forward and kissed her tenderly on the lips.

"Don't leave me my love," he whispered softly in her ear.

A sound like a cracked whip resounded through the air. John's body went into convulsions. He was aware of what was going on around him, and could hear Charlotte faintly calling his name. When he tried to answer her, he could not. He heard another voice speaking, which was strange as appeared to be coming from inside his head.

"You must protect our queen, or you will be answerable to me." The voice said.

The convulsions subsided, but they had left John feeling weak. He noticed Sied approaching Charlotte. To his horror, he was holding a dagger in his hand. Charlotte was still unconscious. When John tried to get up, he was too weak to move. He opened his mouth to yell out a warning. As he did, a sheet of flames came from his mouth. It shot across the ground targeting Sied, covering him from head to toe in flames, and turning him into a human torch.